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Jerusalem ‫ירושלים القدس‬
% 02 / POP 816,000
Includes 
Sights............................ 45
Courses......................... 85
Tours............................. 85
Festivals & Events......... 86
Sleeping........................ 87
Eating............................ 92
Drinking & Nightlife...... 96
Entertainment.............. 98
Shopping....................... 98
Information................... 99
Around Jerusalem. . . 103
Best Places to
Eat
¨¨Abu Shukri (p92)
¨¨Machneyuda (p95)
¨¨Modern (p96)
¨¨Pinati (p93)
¨¨Yudaleh (p94)
Best Places to
Stay
¨¨Abraham Hostel (p89)
¨¨American Colony Hotel
(p88)
¨¨Arthur Hotel (p90)
¨¨Austrian Hospice (p88)
¨¨Christ Church Guesthouse
(p88)
Why Go?
Holy to Jews, Christians and Muslims, Jerusalem’s Old City
is one of the world’s foremost pilgrimage destinations. A
repository of sacred buildings and relics, it is a place where
the oft-abused descriptor ‘living history’ really does apply –
here you can walk in the footsteps of prophets, pray in
buildings constructed by order of caliphs and kings, and
overnight in hospices where Crusaders and cardinals have
slumbered. The soundtrack is of church bells, the muezzin’s
call and the shofar (ram’s horn), and the streets smell of
everything from church incense to the heady aromas of the
spice souq (market). It’s a sensory and spiritual experience
unlike any other.
There’s plenty to see outside the Old City, too, including
the hugely impressive Israel Museum and the powerful Yad
Vashem Holocaust memorial. They, together with the Old
City’s manifest attractions, make Jerusalem the number-one
tourist destination in Israel for very good reason.
When to Go
Jerusalem
°C/°F Temp
Rainfall inches/mm
40/104
8/200
30/86
6/150
20/68
4/100
10/50
2/50
0/32
J
F
M
Apr Pleasant
temperatures, but
be prepared for
crowds and hefty
hotel prices.
A
M
J
J
A
Jul The Old City
is illuminated at
night; shoulderseason hotel
prices apply.
S
O
N
D
0
Sep & Oct
Excellent weather,
the Sacred Music
Festival and relative­ly manageable
crowds.
41
History
First Temple
Second Temple
The Second Temple was constructed around
520 BCE, and around 445 BCE the city walls
were rebuilt under the leadership of Nehemiah, governor of Judah.
The next notable stage in the history of
Jerusalem came with Alexander the Great’s
conquest of the city in 331 BCE. On his death
in 323 BCE, the Seleucids eventually took
over until the Maccabean Revolt 30 years
later. This launched the Hasmonean dynasty, which resanctified the Temple in 164 BCE
after it had been desecrated by the Seleucids.
Romans
Under the leadership of General Pompey,
Jerusalem was conquered by the Romans
around 63 BCE. Some 25 years later they installed Herod the Great to rule what would
become the Roman province of Judaea
(Iudaea). A tyrant’s tyrant, Herod (often
known as ‘the Great’) had his wife and children, as well as rabbis who opposed his rule,
put to death. But he is also known for his
ambitious construction and infrastructure
projects, including expansion of the Temple
Mount to its present form.
Upon the death of Herod, the Romans resumed direct control, installing a procurator
to administer the city. Pontius Pilate, who is
best known for ordering the crucifixion of
Jesus around 30 CE, was the fifth procurator.
Byzantines & Muslims
In 313 CE, the Western Roman Emperor,
Constantine, and Eastern Roman Emperor,
Licinius, met in Milan and agreed on an
edict requiring tolerance of all previously persecuted religions. Eleven years after
this, Constantine defeated Licinius in a
civil war and became sole Emperor of the
Roman Empire (later known as the Byzantine Empire). He legalised Christianity and
his mother Helena visited the Holy Land
in 326–28 CE searching for Christian holy
places. This sparked off the building of bas­
ilicas and churches, and the city quickly
grew to the size it had been under Herod
the Great.
The Byzantine Empire was defeated by
the Persians, who conquered Jerusalem in
614 CE. Their rule lasted just 15 years before
the Byzantines succeeded in retaking the
city. That victory, however, was short-lived,
for within another 10 years an Arab army,
led by Caliph Omar under the banner of Islam, swept through Palestine. In 688 CE the
Dome of the Rock was constructed on the
site of the destroyed Temple. Under the early
Islamic leaders, Jerusalem was a protected
centre of pilgrimage for Jews and Christians
as well as Muslims, but this came to an end
in the 10th century. Under the mercurial Fatimid Caliph al-Hakim, non-Muslims were
persecuted and churches and synagogues
were destroyed, actions that eventually
helped provoke the Crusades.
J e rusa le m H I S T O R Y
The first settlement on the site of Jerusalem was on the Ophel Ridge, immediately
to the southeast of the present-day Jewish
Quarter. A small Canaanite city mentioned
in Egyptian texts of the 20th century BCE,
it was conquered in 997 BCE by the Israelites under King David, who made the city
his capital.
Under King Solomon (David’s son), the
boundaries of the city were extended north to
enclose the spur of land that is now Temple
Mount/Al-Haram ash-Sharif. The construction of the First Temple began in 950 BCE.
Some 17 years after Solomon’s death, the
10 northern tribes of Israel split off to form
the separate Kingdom of Israel and Jerusalem became the capital of the Kingdom of
Judah. In 586 BCE Jerusalem fell to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and both the
city and the First Temple were destroyed;
the people of Jerusalem were exiled to Babylonia. Three generations later, the king of
Persia, Cyrus, allowed them to return.
The Great Jewish Revolt against the Romans began in 66 CE, but after four years of
conflict, the Roman general (and later emp­eror) Titus triumphed. Rome’s Arch of Titus, with its famous frieze of Roman soldiers
carrying off the contents of the Temple, was
built to celebrate his victory.
With the Second Temple destroyed and
Jerusalem burnt, many Jews became slaves
and more fled into exile. The ruined city
continued to serve as the administrative and
military headquarters of the Roman province of Judea, but around 130 CE Emperor
Hadrian decided to rebuild it – not as a Jewish city (he feared renewed Jewish national
aspirations) but as a Roman city complete
with pagan temples. This provoked the Jews’
unsuccessful and bloody Bar Kochba Revolt
(132–35 CE), led by Simon Bar Kochba. After
the uprising was crushed, Jerusalem was renamed Aelia Capitolina and Judea became
Syria Palaestina. The Romans rebuilt Jerusalem, but Jews were banned from the city.